ARPA-H is an idea for a new U.S. agency (probably within the existing National Institutes of Health) focused on leading edge medical and biotech research. It seems like a bit of a gimmick to me, but if this is what it takes to fund research and development (as opposed to just funding more research and development) I am all for it. The U.S. should have a competitive advantage here, and this should benefit out citizens.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution has an obituary on John Philip Grime, a giant in plant ecology. Not being well educated in plant ecology, I had not heard of him, but I like to learn.
Two seminal publications of the early 1970s would come to define Phil’s approach to finding universal patterns in the structure of vegetation. ‘Competitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation’ [1.] introduced the ‘hump-backed’ model, which predicted that plant species richness peaks in communities that produce an aboveground biomass of about 600 g m–2 year–1. The model was one of the first to make specific recommendations about the management of local biodiversity. ‘Vegetation classification by reference to strategies’ [2.] introduced ‘competition-stress-disturbance’ (CSR) theory. CSR would become synonymous with Phil’s approach to studying vegetation; because he chose to present the concept as a triangle of three opposing selection pressures, many would come to refer to CSR theory as Grime’s triangle. Although not obvious from these papers, each was based on extensive vegetation datasets of the Sheffield region compiled by the UCPE team (particularly longtime associate John Hodgson). Although many would come to know Phil as a theorist and provocateur (a role he would assume often in the 1980s and 1990s), Phil would always argue that his insights were born of detailed field observations and a UCPE research team with expertise in both field botany and physiology.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Here’s a paper that goes into the many definitions of green infrastructure across different disciplines, along with related concepts. I’ve certainly seen narrow definitions used in my own discipline of water resources engineering. Defining clearly what you mean by a term and sticking to that definition is actually a good thing, because it takes the power out of the words in the definition itself, and you are now defining the actual structure and/or function of something, and you can now have a conversation with someone else once they understand the definition you are using. Using words without a clear definition, or not being aware of alternate definitions or broader perspectives that are out there, is a problem, and unfortunately not an uncommon one.
In this Alternet article, Noam Chomsky describes the business class as Marxists waging a class struggle. They never give up and working class is always on the defensive. So if the working class is less aggressive, which he says they have been since the “centrist Carter administration”, big business will get the upper hand as it has in the U.S. He sees some hope in the movement started by Bernie Sanders.
This article from Guardian talks about court cases and shareholder activism that may finally force oil companies to take climate change seriously. Even Exxon which, in my opinion, through its manipulation of the U.S. political system bears significant responsibility for the fact that we have a climate crisis in the first place, or at least for the fact that we have not made a significant attempt to deal with it.
A couple points. When we talk about an oil company “cutting emissions”, I don’t think we are talking about the emissions caused by people and businesses using the product. I think we are talking about emissions used in exploration, production, and transportation of the oil itself. Which is all good, but not the root of the fossil fuel emissions problem which is burning the stuff to liberate energy to do work. The fact that the amoral, possibly psychopathic financial industry is turning on the oil industry means they think we are going to be burning less of it going forward. An oil company that invests in “sustainable investments” other than oil is no longer an oil company. The electric utility industry and nuclear industries are completely different animals with existing players, so Exxon is not just going to take them over. So maybe Exxon will just evolve into some sort of venture capital fund looking for profitable investments for its dollars. And there are already plenty of other companies doing that for it to compete with, so I don’t see why Exxon would be particularly adept at it. If they don’t make it long term, good riddance. See you in hell, guys!
This post is probably only on local interest, but Billy Penn has an article on all the carvings on Philadelphia’s City Hall, which is also the world’s largest free-standing masonry structure. That is, this is about as big as you could build a building out of stone, before concrete and steel are invented. Like most things in Philadelphia, it is poorly maintained, underperforming and underwhelming. This may have something to do with the gargoyles inside the building.
The reason you don’t understand quantum computing, according to this article in Wired, is that you are too stupid. Only a person with a Ph.D. in quantum computing is alllowed to try to understand it, and they should not have to take the time to try to explain it to the likes of you.
Seriously, solutions exist on how to design and build safe streets. NACTO has published a set of line-by-line modifications to the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
One thing I’ve learned halfway through an engineering career (but I’m not claiming to be a practicing transportation engineer or expert) is that change doesn’t occur at the site or street scale until best practices from elsewhere filter down to what I call the local “playbook” for design. The playbook is the set of codes, ordinances, regulations, design standards, performance criteria, standard plans and drawings, manuals, guidelines, etc. that a local community uses for design. The status quo in these documents usually has some reason for existing, but it also has enormous inertia, to the point where it can take decades for a clear solution to a problem to make its way into actual on-the-ground designs, and today’s designs can represent solutions that were appropriate for conditions as they existed decades ago.
Local professionals and bureaucrats are not always ignorant, but they are harried and operating under pressure that leaves little time for learning. There is a certain cynicism that sets in, at least in the engineering industry, and in my opinion the “STEM” approach to education tends to nudge more literal minded thinkers (who tend to be good at math and logic) into the industry while discouraging more creative thinkers. Revised curricula and continuing education for planners, engineers, architects, the construction industry, and public officials can be part of the answer. Grass roots advocacy can also be part of the answer. But changes to official documents at the federal level can really help get the ball rolling, because states often follow suit (slowly), and then local projects are often required to follow these documents to be eligible for state and federal funding. Just one small example is that in Pennsylvania, there is (or was until recently, I’m not sure of the status) a law that cars had to be parked within a certain number of inches of a curb. Sounds reasonable enough, until you realize that it actually makes modern protected bike lanes illegal! There are lots of little things like that, and then there are big things like safe intersections with different signals for motor vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.
Here’s a video about an armed drone that can track down and kill someone, supposedly in a fully autonomous mode. And here’s an article suggesting this may already have actually happened.
Our World in Data has some numbers on the decline in price for lithium ion batteries.
Since 1991, prices have fallen by around 97%. Prices fall by an average of 19% for every doubling of capacity. Even more promising is that this rate of reduction does not yet appear to be slowing down.
Our World in Data